Federal Wildlife Service Seeks Public Input on Habitat Plan

BySteven Cherry |June 30, 2015

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking the public’s suggestions for writing an environmental impact statement for an eight-state Midwestern plan designed to help conserve the habitats of several species of animals, including three types of bats that are impacted by wind energy facilities.

The states are Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Pete Pattavina/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Northern long-eared bat.

The environmental impact statement will assess the impact of giving various operations, such as wind energy facilities, “incidental take permits,” which would give them immunity from prosecution for any inadvertent or incidental bat deaths or injuries.

To learn more about the statement and the regional habitat conservation plan, called Midwest Wind Energy Multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan, visit the federal eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov/ and type or cut-and-paste Docket Number FWS-R3-ES-2015-0033 into the horizontal search box.

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